Torchwood books

[Nicky74]

Has anyone seen or read the new series of Torchwood books that are out? There are 3 so far and the book chart (adult) has them at number 2.

[Rob McCow]

These were purchased the day before I got ill! They're like the Who books only larger and even more nicely packaged. Si's been reading them, but I've been mostly lying on the sofa and shivering. I've had the flu, you know.

[Milky Tears]

They were going cheap in Forbidden Planet yesterday, but the gappy teeth on the front cover sent me running from the shop.

[Doctor Vendetta]

They were going cheap in Forbidden Planet yesterday, but the gappy teeth on the front cover sent me running from the shop.

How cheap in FP? I've seen them for under 4.

[Milky Tears]

Cheap for Forbidden Planet (think they were 5.49), but not as cheap as the supermarkets.

[Larry]

These were purchased the day before I got ill! They're like the Who books only larger and even more nicely packaged. Si's been reading them, but I've been mostly lying on the sofa and shivering. I've had the flu, you know.

what age group are they aimed at are they written like the old PDA's or the new TDA's..

[Andy Frankham]

I's got 'em. Not read 'em yet, mind. Also because of the pic on the spine, the order of the books is actually wrong.

[SiHart]

So what order are they supposed to be in then? As far as I can tell there's no reason why you can't read them in any order as they seem to be pretty much stand a lone novels anyway.

They've been good. Definitely aimed at the adult market, as there's strong language in them, but the one and a bit I've read so far have been good.

Si xx

[Andy Frankham]

I'll get back to you on the order once I have it confirmed. On the weekend, hopefully.

[SiHart]

Thanks Andy. You can bet whatever the order is, I'm reading them in the wrong one... I'm notorious for that.

Si xx

[Andy Frankham]

Well, it's down to whoever put the pic on the spine. They should have checked with those who know the order first.

[Andy Frankham]

Well, I've started the novels now. So far so good, mostly. Apart the cod-Welsh dialogue and the blatant touristy outlook of Cardiff. It's a shame that non of these books are written by residents of Cardiff, since there's an element of authenticity that's missing as a result. Still, pretty good stuff so far.

Oh, and the order is;
'Another Life'
'Slow Decay'
'Border Princes'

Judging by what I've read so far, it would seem that each book is set during a different point of series one.

[SiHart]

Despite not going with the order on the spine, I've still got the order wrong!

Si xx

[Rob McCow]

I'm reading Slow Decay first; it's early enough in the season for me, it seems to be before Countrycide and probably Cyberwoman at any rate. I'm rather enjoying it too, although some passages made me look up from the book, stare into the air and mutter obscenities on the train this morning.

Even the wind fancies Jack -
"The wind ruffled his hair like a playful hand."

"He stood on the bay, his gaze beaming out like a psychic lighthouse."
Ah, many a sailor's been glad of them psychic lighthouses.

I'll put up a few more if I spot them. There was also a conversation about Scooby Doo when the team was surrounded and in danger that went on for about 3 paragraphs too long.

Still, the actual story is pretty cool and there are moments of brilliance that almost cancel out these silly bits. I liked the funky aquarium. The violence is nicely gruesome without going over the top. It's good to see a lot of Rhys in this one too.

[Rob McCow]

Well I really enjoyed that, ploughed through it in just under two days. However, the Paul McCartney with Wings joke was utterly unforgivable! Perhaps it's more like the TV series in being silly when it should be cool.

[Dr Crewe]

I`ve read one , very good but definitely aimed at adults as they contain f -words and quite a fair bit of sex - the Andy Lane one by the way!

[Andy Frankham]

Surely aimed at adults should imply the tone of the books, not the swearing and sex. And I should point out that 'Another Life' does not have sex scenes in it... thank god.

[Larry]

well i bought all 3 books yesterday and my first thought was they don't look very long as I was expecting them to be the same length as a PDA but i shall look forward to reading them...

[Andy Frankham]

They're roughly 80,000 words, Larry, which is pretty much the standard length of a Doctor Who novel during the heyday of Virgin and BBC books. Longer than the current BBC range of Who novels. If you compare, you'll see that the Torchwood novels are not only larger in format, but smaller in print. Thus considerably longer than their Who counterparts.

[Rob McCow]

I've started 'Another Life' by Peter Angelihdes. Rather annoyingly, it seems to feature Alien Parasites, Cannibalism and Serial Murders, so it's ludicrously similar to 'Slow Decay'. It's fairly entertaining though.

Whereas Slow Decay had bizzare metaphors, Another Life has long, rambling paragraphs that don't go anywhere. Most of these feature Owen. Whether he's playing a computer game for hours, or wiping the dust from his dashboard, we hear all about it here. As before, when things are actually happening it's great, but there's too much waffle.

Also, there's tonnes of sexual implications in this book. Jack and Ianto are definetly an item, Gwen fancies Jack, Tosh fancies Owen and Owen will do anything to anyone. Though he's not that keen on Gwen. Eh?

[Rob McCow]

Another Life was disappointing in the end. There's a lot of Owen, but none of what he does has much impact on the main plot as it's Gwen and Jack who sort it all out in the end.

Torchwood also have a Sub, according to this. They probably have lots of other things named with three letters and a 'u' in the middle. Like the Hub and the SUV.